"No!"
Tetsu no Sosuke said, "I don't want anyone but you!"
"What if you're lying to me?"
"Then may I die a horrible death!"
"All right." Shinobu Kocho nodded.
Overjoyed, Tetsu no Sosuke stepped forward to embrace her. But his body suddenly jolted, and blood spread across his chest. He stared at her in disbelief. "Why...?"
"You underestimate him. You think he's far more shallow than he is. And you underestimate me the same way."
Looking at the face that belonged to Tetsu no Sosuke, Shinobu said quietly, "He would never say that. He would never abandon my sister, and he certainly wouldn't fall for me... But even if he did abandon her, even if he did fall for me, I wouldn't accept him. Abandoning my sister would be a sin, and falling for me would be one too. This is my sin alone. Why should he bear it with me? Besides, he doesn't even know how I feel."
At that, she smiled. "Still, I'm a little grateful to you. Seeing this face say those words to me... I suddenly feel as though my life has been complete. What a shame that you're something that must be destroyed. No matter what, I won't let you escape me!"
Her blade flashed as she unleashed the Swordsmanship of the Breath of the Insect once more.
But a moment later, she frowned.
The Tetsu no Sosuke before her showed no sign of being poisoned. He merely tilted his head and smiled. "Foolish woman. You think he doesn't know how you feel? He knows..."
He knows!
The words drove into Shinobu's heart like a spike.
By the time she came to her senses, the false Tetsu no Sosuke had vanished completely.
Shinobu looked around. She was already far from the Water Pillar's house. She